Randy DeFoor is Donna Deegan’s pick to be next Jacksonville General Counsel

A former Republican member of the Jacksonville City Council is in line to be the city’s next General Counsel. But she is going to face difficulty getting confirmed by former colleagues.

As first reported by Mike Mendenhall of the Jacksonville Daily Record, and confirmed by the Mayor’s Office, Randy DeFoor is Donna Deegan’s pick for the job.

“After reviewing the candidates, receiving community input and unanimous approval from the Qualifications Review Committee, I am proud to appoint Randy DeFoor. Her extensive experience as a general counsel, management executive and public official is the leadership we need, and she will bring honesty, toughness, fairness and courage to the position,” Deegan said.

The Mayor’s pick rendered the selection committee charged with recommending a pick moot, per member John Delaney, a former General Counsel and Mayor himself.

“No votes, no scoring. The Mayor told (selection committee Chair) Jason (Gabriel) last night the name that she wanted us to consider. We are obligated to consider her nominee (‘shall’) and ‘may’ consider others. Once she submitted a name, our job is essentially over, whether a mayoral nominee is qualified, or not.”

DeFoor ran for her sole term as a Lenny Curry ally but broke with the Mayor’s Office and political team soon after her narrow victory in 2019 to become one of the most outspoken critics of the Curry administration in recent years. Her district was a casualty of redistricting, but she would have faced challenges in a re-election bid, nonetheless.

DeFoor first endorsed LeAnna Cumber for Mayor before endorsing Deegan in the runoff, noting that she did not fully “agree” with Deegan politically.

“Donna Deegan and I do not agree on some issues, but I know her heart, and she loves our city and would not make a move that would harm her home. Like my family, she is a multi-generation Jacksonville native. She is honest. And right now that is more important than anything else. I urge everyone to pause and ponder the issue of honesty before they vote.”

One major issue DeFoor differs with Deegan on is confederate monument removal. DeFoor believes the one in Springfield Park should remain standing.

“It would have been far easier for Germany to remove any remembrance of what happened there,” said DeFoor in a Council committee, adding that those who wanted to remove the statue were “listening to the loudest voices and not the majority of voices.”

DeFoor, a corporate lawyer by trade with Fidelity National Title Group who was briefly unable to practice law according to the Bar while on Council, raised issues about the General Counsel’s Office throughout her term, and she likely would have thoughts about how the office should function in the Deegan era if she is confirmed by the City Council. Ironically, one of her concerns was that OGC was too bound to the Mayor’s Office.

DeFoor also brooked controversy on the City Council when she was a no vote on appointing the late Dr. Leon Haley to the JEA Board in 2020. Haley was the former head of UF Health, the city’s sole safety net hospital, before his untimely death.

As far back as May, soon after Deegan’s election, DeFoor was rumored to be in the mix for the role, but she wouldn’t confirm it back then.

DeFoor will face the hurdle of confirmation. Per Jacksonville municipal code, she will have to be confirmed by “no less than 13 members” of the supermajority Republican City Council.

At least one veteran member says that will be an “uphill battle.” Another points to comportment issues, saying she’s “combative” and “vindictive,” traits that don’t lend well to being General Counsel.

Meanwhile, others question the pick, with one calling it a “political payoff.”